IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-3) 


/. 


^/  X^\ 


1.0 


I.I 


|Z5 
2.2 


Hi 


140 


2.0 


^        HA 


Photographic 

ScMices 

CorporatiQii 


^ 


S3  WMT  MAM  tTRIIT 

Wlttnn,N.V.  14SM 
(71*)  •73-4303 


^^^S.^ 


^^mmt^mammmsmm 


mn. 


<s 


<v 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CiHIVI/iCIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Inatituta  for  Historical  fMicroraproductiont  /  in«titut  Canadian  da  microraproductiont  liistoriquas 


rmmmm^ 


'  tsynu'wj.'i  r 


Tachnical  and  Bibliooraphic  Not««/Not«s  tactiniquM  «M  biMiographiquM 


Th«  Inttitut*  has  attamptad  to  obtain  tha  bast 
original  copy  avaiiabia  for  filming.  Faaturas  of  this 
copy  which  may  ba  MbliographieaNy  uniqua, 
which  may  atar  any  of  tha  imagaa  in  tha 
raproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  changa 
tha  usual  mathod  of  filming,  ara  chackad  balow. 


0 


Colourad  covers/ 
Couvorturo  da  couleur 


[~y|   Covers  damagad/ 


Couvartura  andommagda 

Covars  rastorad  and/or  laminatad/ 
Couvartura  rastaurAa  at/ou  pallicuMa 

Covar  titia  missing/ 

Ls  titrs  da  couvartura  manqua 


I     I   Coloured  maps/ 


Cartes  gAographiquas  an  couleur 


□   Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  do  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  Meue  ou  noire) 

r~n  Coloured  pletes  and/or  illustrations/ 


D 
D 


n 


n 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 


Bound  with  other  material/ 
H^nt  avac  d'autres  documents 


Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

Lareliure  serrAe  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  la  long  de  la  marge  intMeure 

Blank  leavea  added  during  restoration  may 
appeer  yiMMn  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
heve  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pagee  blanchea  i^outAes 
tors  d'une  rostauraticn  apparaiaaent  dans  to  texte, 
ntais,  lorsque  ce!t  Atait  possibto,  ces  pagea  n'ont 
pas  «ti  filmAee. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentairea  supplAmentaires: 


L'Institut  a  microfilm*  la  malHeur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  AtA  poasibto  cto  se  procurer.  Les  dAtails 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sent  paut-Atre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  MbHograohlqua,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvem  exiger  une 
modification  ctons  to  mAthode  normato  de  f ilmage 
sont  indiquAs  ci-dessous. 


n 

D 
D 
Q 
D 
13 
D 
D 
D 
D 


Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  coutour 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagAes 

Pag«s  :estored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurAes  et/ou  pellicuMes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  dAcolorAes,  tachetAes  ou  piquAes 

Pages  detached/ 
Pages  dAtachAes 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prim  variea/ 
QualitA  irtAgato  de  I'impression 

Includes  supptomentary  material/ 
Comprend  du  matAriel  suppMmentaire 

Only  edition  avaUabto/ 
Seuto  Aditton  disponibto 

Pagee  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
sHps,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  ref limed  to 
ensure  the  best  possibto  image/ 
Lea  pagee  totatoment  ou  partieltoment 
obscurdes  par  un  feuHtot  d'errata,  une  pelure. 
etc.,  ont  AtA  fHmAes  A  nouveau  de  fa^on  A 
obtenir  la  meiHeure  image  poasibto. 


This  item  is  flit,  sd  at  the  reduetton  ratto  ehechad  below/ 

Ce  document  est  filmA  au  taux  de  rAduetton  kidlquA  cl«dasseua. 


■« 


10X 

MX 

MX 

ax 

MX 

3BX 

>/ 

3 

12X 


ItX 


a«x 


1 

a 
1 

V 

d 

e 
b 
ri 
ri 
n 


Th*  copy  fMniMl  hero  ha*  b««n  r«produc«d  thanks 
to  tho  gonorotity  of: 

Library  of  tha  Public 
ArchivM  of  Canada 


L'axampiairo  film*  fut  raproduit  grAca  A  ia 
gAnAroaIti  da: 

La  bibliotliAqua  dat  Archlvas 
pubiiquas  du  Canada 


Tha  images  appaaring  hara  ara  tha  baat  quaiity 
poaaibia  eonaidaring  tha  condition  and  iagibility 
of  tha  original  copy  and  in  kaaping  with  tha 
filming  contract  apaclficatlona. 


Orlginid  coplaa  in  printad  papar  covers  ara  fiimad 
beginning  with  tha  front  covar  and  andlng  on 
th9  laat  paga  with  a  printad  or  iiluatratad  impraa- 
sk>n,  or  tha  back  covar  whan  appropriate.  Ail 
othar  original  copkM  ara  fiimad  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  IHustratad  imprea- 
sion,  and  andlng  on  tha  laat  page  with  e  printed 
or  illuatrated  impreeaton. 


Tha  laat  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shaN  contain  the  aymbol  «-^>  (meening  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  aymbol  ▼  (meening  "END"), 
whichever  appNee. 


Las  imagea  sulvantes  ont  4tA  reprodultes  avac  la 
plua  grand  soln,  compta  tenu  de  la  condition  at 
da  ia  nettet*  de  rexemplaira  fiimA.  at  an 
conformity  avac  las  conditions  du  contrat  da 
fllmaga. 

Lea  exemplaires  orlginaux  dont  la  eouvarture  an 
papier  eat  Imprimte  sent  fllmfo  an  commanqant 
par  la  premier  plot  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
damiAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'lHustretion,  solt  per  le  second 
phit,  seton  le  ces.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
origlneux  sent  fiimAs  en  commen^ant  par  ia 
pramiAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impreaaion  ou  d'iiiuatration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  demlire  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  dee  symbdea  suhrants  appsraltra  sur  la 
darnSAre  imege  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
ces:  le  symbole  -^  signifle  "A  8UIVRE",  le 
symbole  ▼  signifie  "FIN". 


Mapa,  platea,  charts,  etc.,  mey  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  rethM.  Thoae  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  expoeure  aie  fHmed 
beginning  bi  the  upper  left  liand  comer,  left  to 
right  end  top  to  bottom,  ee  meny  framee  aa 
required.  Tlie  following  dlegrama  iiluatrate  the 
method: 


Les  certes.  planches,  tebleaux,  etc.,  pcMvent  Atre 
fiimAa  A  dee  taux  de  rAduction  diff Arents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  Atra 
raproduit  en  un  soul  clichA,  11  est  fiimA  A  partir 
de  I'angle  aupAriaur  geuche,  de  geuche  A  droite. 
et  de  hiaut  an  bas,  en  prenant  la  nombre 
d'imagao  nAceaaaire.  Lea  diagrammaa  suivsnts 
illustrent  le  mAthode. 


1  2  3 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

MEMORIAL 


OF     THE 


Paiinctir   (TrUfivuph   (fompaini 


AND      THE 


|tcir  tf  nulantt  Wmw  (tdfj^vaph  (S  ompauy 


TO     T  ir  IB 


CONIJHESS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


f 


Hl.liNM^iS,    »n        D    »t       4%     .    «iM    i    'TH.    AA^-Ui'^H. 


v-V  *'    .   ^ 


►>-. 


i: 


Pem0):ial. 


To  THE  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  op  America,  in  Conqress  assembled. 

The  Memorial  of  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company^  and 
the  New  England  Union  Telegraph  Company,  by  their 
Joint  Committee  duly  authorized,  respectfully  repre- 
sents: 

That  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company,  whose  Line 
of  Telegraph  extends  from  Washington  to  New  York, 
was  the  first  Telegraph  Company  organized  in  the  United 
States  to  give  practical  effect  to  Professor  Morse's  inven- 
tion of  the  American  Electro-Magnetic  Telegraph,  now 
pervading  the  civilized  world,  and  was  soon  after  followed 
by  the  organization  of  the  New  York  and  Boston  Mag- 
netic Telegraph  Associp.tion,  which,  having  been  united 
with  a  competing  Lin<;  on  substantially  the  same  route,  is 
now  known  by  the  name  of  the  New  England  Union 
Telegraph  Company. 

The  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company  has  since,  by  lease, 
obtained  control  of  the  Washington  and  New  Orleans 
Line,  so  that  they  now  possess  the  Line  along  the  Atlantic 
coast,  from  New  York  to  New  Orleans. 

Upon  these  Companies  devolved  the  necessity  of  solving 
many  problems  in  relation  to  long  Lines  of  Electric  Tele- 
graph which  had  hitherto  been  involved  in  doubt,  and 


¥^ 


aJi»; 


■^  K 


could  only  be  solved  by  expensive  experiments.  Scarcely, 
hoAvever,  had  they  begun  to  receive  a  return  for  their  in- 
vestments, when  rival  Lines  sprung  up,  under  different 
systems  of  telegraphing,  which  the  two  Companies  be- 
lieved to  be  infringements  of  Morse's  Patent,  for  the  use 
of  which  they  had  given  half  their  stock.  Expensive 
•  litigation  was  the  consequence ;  from  which,  however,  no 
effective  protection  was  obtained,  on  account  of  the  defect- 
ive character  of  the  patent  laws,  and  the  conflicting  princi- 
ples applied  to  their  construction  by  the  judicial  tribunals. 
Nevertheless,  your  Memorialists  would  have  been  con- 
tent to  carry  on  their  business  with  the  imperfect  protec- 
tion which  the  existing  laws  afford  them,  without  an  appeal 
to  Congress  for  further  legislation,  had  they  been  left  to 
contend  only  with  infringers  of  their  patented  rights,  or 
even  with  a  full  and  fair  domestic  competition.  But  your 
Memorialists  represent  and  charge,  that  a  combination  has 
been  entered  into  by  parties  and  Companies  in  and  out  of 
the  United  States,  endeavoring  to  force  the  Companies 
represented  by  the  undersigned  to  surrender  their  prop- 
erty into  the  hands  of  such  combination  on  their  own 
terms,  or  of  destroying  its  value  altogether.  And  your 
Memorialists  charge  that  this  combination,  through  con- 
cealment of  its  ultimate  objects,  and  through  representa- 
tions and  pledges  of  some  of  its  active  managers,  pre- 
vented your  Memorialists  from  taking  steps  to  protect 
their  interests,  while  the  said  combination  were  procuring 
the  aid  of  the  British  Province  of  Newfoundland,  the 
Government  of  Great  Britain  and  the  Government  of  the 
United  States. 


a 

Your  Memorialists  desire  to  be  understood  as  not  op- 
posed to  the  great  enterprise  of  connecting  Europe  and 
America  by  a  Telegraphic  Cable,  nor  to  any  assistance  in 
ships  or  money  which  their  Government  may  think  proper 
to  give  it ;  but  they  maintain  that  it  is  the  duty  of  their 
Government,  whether  they  assist  the  enterprise  or  not,  to 
see  that  it  shall  not  be  used  to  oppress  one  interest  in  the 
United  States  for  the  purpose  of  building  up  another,  and 
that  this  duty  becomes  more  imperative  when  the  Govern- 
ment furnishes  it  with  material  aid. 

Your  Memorialists  further  represent,  that  the  combina- 
tion of  which  they  complain  is  composed  of  the  New  York, 
Newfoundland  and  London  Telegraph  Company,  incorpo- 
rated by  the  Legislature  of  the  British  Province  of  New- 
foundland; the  American  Telegraph  Company,  incorpo- 
rated under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York ;  and  the 
Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  a  British  Corporation,  em- 
bracing an  Atlantic  Telegraphic  Cable  from  Newfound- 
land to  the  coast  of  Ireland.  Whether  there  is  a  fourth 
party  covering  a  Telegraph  Line  from  the  Irish  terminus 
of  the  proposed  Atlantic  Cable  to  the  City  of  London, 
your  Memorialists  are  not  advised,  nor  is  it  material. 

Your  Memorialists  represent,  that  the  three  Telegraph 
Companies  aforesaid  originated  with  certain  capitalists  in 
the  City  of  New  York,  who  are  stockholders  in  all  of 
them,  and  control  two  of  them  directly  and  absolutely, 
and  the  third  indirectly  but  effectually.  The  New  York, 
Newfoundland,  and  London  Telegraph  Company,  and  the 
American  Telegraph  Company,  are  composed  mainly  of 
the  same  men,  and  are  under  the  same  control ;  and  the 


I 


same  men  who  control  them  are  influential  stockholders 
in  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  which  could  not 
have  existed  in  its  present  shape  without  their  consent. 
In  fact,  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company  and  the  Ame- 
rican Telegraph  Company  were  but  parts  of  one  scheme, 
which  was  originally  embraced  in  the  Act  incorporating 
the  New  York,  Newfoundland,  and  London  Telegraph 
Company,  and  in  interest  and  control  they  arc  still  parts 
of  one  scheme,  insomuch  that  the  success  of  one  contri- 
butes, if  it  be  not  absolutely  essential  to,  the  success  of 
all ;  and  any  aid  afforded  by  the  Government  giving 
strength  to  one,  gives  strength  and  power  to  all. 

That  these  three  Companies  are  one  in  origin  and  de- 
sign, is  conclusively  shown  by  the  Act  of  the  Legislature 
of  Newfoundhind  incorporating  the  New  York,  Newfound- 
land, and  London  Telegraph  Company,  passed  April  15th, 
1854.  The  14th  and  18th  sections  of  that  Act  are  in 
the  following  words,  viz : 

"  14th.  The  Corporation  hereby  created  shall  have  the 
'  sole  and  exclusive  right  to  build,  make,  occupy,  take  or 

*  work  the  said  Line  or  any  Line  of  Telegraph  between 

*  Saint  Johns  and  Cape  Ray,  or  between  any  other 
'  points  in  this  Island,  (excepting  only  the  existing  Line 
'  between  Saint  Johns  and  Carbonear,)  for  the  full  period 

*  of  fifty  years  from  the  passing  of  this  Act,  subject,  nev- 

*  ertheless,  to  the  right  of  pre-emption  by  the  Oovern- 

*  ment  of  this  Colony,  as  hereinafter  provided ;  and  during 

*  the  said  period  of  fifty  years,  no  other  person  or  per- 

*  sons,  body  or  bodies  politic  or  corporate,  shall  be  per- 

*  mitted  to  construct,  purchase,  take  or  operate  any  Line 

*  or  Lines  of  Telegraph  on  this  Island,  or  to  extend  to, 

*  enter  upon  or  touch  any  part  of  this  Island,  or  the  coast 


thereof,  or  of  the  islands  or  places  within  the  jarisdiction 
of  the  Government  of  this  Colony,  with  any  telegraphic 
cable,  wire,  or  other  means  of  telegraphic  communica- 
tion, from  any  other  island,  country  or  place  whatsoever: 
Provided^  however,  That  if  said  Line  of  Telegraph  shall 
not  have  been  completed  from  Saint  Johns  to  Cape  Ray, 
or  other  point  on  the  western  coast  of  Newfoundland, 
and  a  communication  by  telegraph  across  Prince  Edward 
Island,  or  the  Island  of  Cape  Breton  or  otherwise,  es- 
tablished with  the  Continent  of  America  within  five 
years  from  the  passing  of  this  Act,  the  exclusive  privi- 
leges granted  by  this  section  shall  cease." 

"  18th.  The  said  Company  shall  have  power  to  estab- 
lish, construct  and  work  a  Line  or  Lines  of  Telegraph 
between  Newfoundland  and  Ireland,  or  any  other  island, 
place,  or  places  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  or  in  Europe,  or 
in  the  United  States,  and  to  construct,  purchase,  and 
work  any  Telegraph  Line  or  Lines  or  means  of  communi- 
cation in  Canada,  Prince  Edward  Island,  Cape  Breton, 
Nova  Scotia,  New  Brunswick,  and  the  United  States, 
and  in  the  waters  adjacent  to  or  between  the  said  Islands, 
Provinces  or  States,  and  between  any  of  them  and  New- 
foundland :  Provided,  however,  That  such  consent  as  may 
be  necessary  shall  be  first  obtained  of  the  Governments  of 
said  Provinces  and  States,  respectively;  and  generally 
to  purchase  or  hire  any  Line  of  Telegraph  which  may 
now  or  hereafter  be  constructed  by  any  person  or  per- 
sons, or  body  or  bodies  politic  or  corporate  in  the  United 
States,  or  British  Provinces  of  North  America,  or  in 
Europe,  and  to  use  the  same  for  the  transmission  of 
messages  and  intelligence;  and  they  may  also  construct, 
purchase,  hire  or  use  any  steam  or  other  vessels  to  aid 
in  the  acquisition  or  transmission  of  intelligence  between 
America  and  Europe,  or  in  carrying  on  any  of  the  oper- 
ations of  the  said  Compuny." 


r^^ 


The  14th  section,  it  will  be  perceived,  confers  on  the 
Company  an  absolute  monopoly  for  fifty  years  of  landing 
a  Telegraphic  Cable  on  the  coasts  of  Newfoundland,  and 
the  18th  section  confers  on  them  the  power  to  establish 
and  work  a  line  of  Telegraph  "between  Newfoundland 
and  Ireland,"  the  precise  enterprise  now  in  course  of  exe- 
cution with  the  aid  of  Government  by  the  Atlantic  Tele- 
graph Company.  If  the  latter  Company,  therefore,  have 
any  right  to  land  a  Telegraphic  Cable  on  the  coast  of 
Newfoundland,  it  must  have  been  derived  from  the  New- 
foundland Company,  to  whom  the  grant  was  originally 
made. 

It  will  also  be  perceived,  that  the  18th  section  confers 
on  the  Company  power  to  construct,  purchase,  hire  and 
work  Telegraph  Lines  in  the  United  States  as  w^ell  as  in 
the  British  Provinces.  This  power  has  not  been  exer- 
cised in  the  United  States  in  the  name  of  the  Newfound- 
land Company;  but  the  same  men  who  control  that 
Company  have  organized  themselves  into  another  Com- 
pany called  the  American  Telegraph  Company,  who  are, 
in  connection  with  the  Newfoundland  and  Ocean  Com- 
panies, carrying  into  eflfect  the  American  branch  of  the 
original  scheme. 

Here,  then,  we  have  three  Telegraph  Companies  carved 
out  of  one.  The  object  is  the  same  ;  but  the  responsibili- 
ties are  divided.  The  principal  managers  arc  virtually, 
if  not  identically,  the  same ;  but  they  now  act  through 
three  organizations  instead  of  one.  These  managers  are 
the  principal  Stockholders  of  the  Newfoundland  and 
American  Telegiaph  Companies,  heavy  Stockholders  in 


the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  and  are  the  orighiators 
of  the  whole  scheme. 

If  further  evidence  were  needed  to  prove  a  community 
of  interest  between  these  three  Companies,  it  is  found  in 
the  recent  proceedings  of  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Com- 
pany in  England,  constituting  some  of  the  principal 
Stockholders  of  the  American  Company,  who  are  also 
Stockholders  of  the  Newfoundland  Company,  Honorary 
Directors  of  the  Atlantic  Company. 

If  any  douht  could  exist  as  to  the  ultimate  object  cf 
this  scheme,  it  is  solved  by  the  eiforts  of  its  autliors  to 
hedge  round  the  Continent  and  the  Islands  of  America, 
so  as  to  render  impracticable  competition  with  them  by 
other  Telegraph  Lines  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  and  even 
to  extend  their  monopoly  into  the  United  States. 

Their  Newfoundland  Monopoly  is  as  exclusive  as  lan- 
guage can  make  it.  No  other  company  or  individual  is 
permitted  to  ^^  touch  "  the  shores  of  that  Island  by  a  Tele- 
graph Line  of  any  sort.  If,  as  has  been  represented,  that 
is  the  only  point  where  the  Ocean  can  be  crossed  by  a 
Telegraphic  Cable,  that  grant  is  of  itself  a  bar  to  every 
other  enterprise  of  the  same  sort.  But  lest  it  should  be 
found  practicable  to  land  a  Telegraphic  Cable  at  some 
point  further  West,  the  managers  of  the  Newfoundland 
Monopoly  sought  to  cut  off  the  possibility  of  a  rival  Line 
by  the  extension  of  their  monopoly  to  the  coasts  of  the 
other  British  Provinces  and  the  United  States. 

They  sought,  and  claim  to  have  secured,  the  exclusive 
right  of  landing  a  Telegraphic  Cable  in  the  Province  of 
Nova  Scotia. 


8 

They  sought,  and  actually  procared,  from  the  Legisla- 
ture of  the  State  of  Maine,  au  Act  prohibiting  all  other 
parties  from  laying  a  Submarine  Cable  from  any  foreign 
country  touching  the  coasts  of  that  State  for  twenty- 
five  years.  The  title  of  this  Act,  and  the  prohibitory 
clause,  are  in  the  following  words,  viz : 

"^M  Act  granting  certain  privileges  to  the  New  York, 
Newfoundland  and  London  Telegraph  Company. 

"  Sec.  1.  For  and  during  the  term  of  twenty-five  years 
'  from  and  after  the  time  when  the  Ncvr  York,  Newfound- 
'  land  and  London  Telegraph  Company,  incorporated  by 
'  the  Legislature  of  Newfoundland  for  the  purpose  among 

*  others  of  establishing  a  Line  of  Telegraphic  commuuica- 

*  tion  between  America  and  Europe  by  way  of  Newfound- 
'  land,  shall  have  established,  with  or  without  tho  aid  of 

*  an  associated  Line  or  Lines,  a  Telegraphic  communica- 
'  tion  between  America  and  Europe,  and  so  long  during 
'  saiv  rwenty-five  years  as  such  communication  :vhall  be 
'  regularly  maintained  by  said  Company,  and  all  matters 
'  passing  thereon  for  the  United  States  be  transmitted 
'  through  the  State  of  Maine  upon  the  Lines  of  the  Amer- 

*  ican  Telegraph  Company,  as  Lessees  of  the  Maine  Tele- 

*  graph  Company,  no  other  person  or  persons,  body  or 
'  bodies  politic  or  corporate,  shall  be  permitted  to  extend 
'  to,  enter  upon,  or  touch  any  part  of  the  State  of  Maine, 
'  or  the  coasts  thereof,  or  of  the  Islands  under  its  jurisdic- 
'  tion,  with  any  Telegraphic  Cable,  wire  or  other  means 

*  of  Telegraphic  communication  from  any  other  province, 

*  State,  County,  [Country  ?]  or  place  whatsoever  beyond 

*  the  Continent  of  America." 

This  Act  was  approved  April  10th,  1856.  It  does  rot, 
as  the  title  erroneously  represents,  grant  any  privilege 
to  the  New  York,  Newfoundland  and  London  Telegraph 


B 


Company,  but  merely  prohibits  any  ether  party  from 
landing  a  Transatlantic  Tel'^^^'aph  Cable  in  the  State  of 
Maine.  And  thia  prohibition  is  equally  for  the  benefit  of 
that  Company  and  of  the  American  Telegraph  Company, 
for  whom  it  purports  to  secure  a  monopoly  of  the  foreign 
telegraphic  correspondence  through  the  State  of  Maine. 
Indeed,  nothing  could  show  more  strongly  than  the  pro- 
curement of  this  Act,  the  identity  of  interest  and  manage- 
ment of  the  American  and  Newfoundland  Companies. 

A  zealous  effort  was  made  to  secure  similar  legislation 
in  Massachusetts,  but  without  success. 

Without  adverting  to  rumors  of  similar  operations  else- 
where, these  instances  arc  abundantly  sufficient  to  show 
the  design  of  these  parties  to  hedge  round  the  Continent 
of  America  by  exclusive  grants  and  prohibitions,  so  that 
the  United  States  should  be  unapproachable  telegraphi- 
cally otherwise  than  through  their  Line  from  the  Coast  of 
Ireland,  and  through  the  Newfoundland  and  American 
Lines  chiefly  owned  by  them  or  under  their  control ;  and 
this  monopoly  they  are  endeavoring  to  extend  practically 
through  the  several  States. 

Your  Memorialisto  further  represent,  that  the  aid  of  the 
Governments  of  Newfoundland,  of  Great  Britain,  and  of 
the  United  States,  has  been  sought  and  obtained  to  estab- 
lish this  monopoly  on  a  basis  which  shall  forbid  all  at- 
tempts to  get  up  competition. 

The  Government  of  Newfoundland,  in  addition  to  the 
monopoly  of  fifty  years*  duration,  gave  the  Company 
about  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  in  cash  for  clearing  a 
bridle-path  necessary  to  the  construction  and  repairs  of 


their  Lino  of  Telegraph,  guaranteed  six  per  cent,  interest 
on  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  of  bonds 
issued  by  them,  and  granted  them  fifty  square  miles  of 
public  lands  when  the  Line  on  the  Island  should  be  com- 
pleted and  connected  with  the  Lines  on  the  Continent,  and 
fifty  square  miles  more  when  the  communication  with  the 
coast  of  Ireland  shall  be  established.     These  grants  were 
made,  it  Avill  bo  remembered,  to  a  Company  which  em- 
braced in  its  plan  the  building  and  hiring  of  Lines  in  the 
United  States  and  laying  a  Telegraphic  Cable  to  the  coast 
of  Ireland;  and  the  grant  of  fifty  square  miles  of  the 
land  is  expressly  in  consideration  of  the  successful  accom- 
plishment of  the  latter  enterprise.     But  whether  the  i-ight 
to  the  lands  as  well  as  the  enterprise  has  been  transferred 
to  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company,  is  to  your  Memo- 
rialists unknown,  though  they  have  reason  to  believe  it 
has  not ;  nor  do  they  know  how  or  by  what  authority  the 
Ocean  part  of  the  original  scheme  has  been  severed  from 
the  Newfoundland  Company,  and  vested  in  another  Com- 
pany, though  they  do  not  doubt  it  was  a  measure  pro- 
jected and  matured  by  the  chief  managers  of  the  original 
Company. 

Your  Memorialists  further  represent,  that  the  plan  of  a 
Transatlantic  Telegraph,  though  perhaps  originally  pro- 
jected as  a  noble  enterprise,  in  which  its  promoters  ex- 
pected to  receive  their  chief  recompense  in  the  glory  of 
success  and  the  gratitude  of  nations,  has  been  since  con- 
verted into  an  enormous  scheme  of  monopoly,  aiming  to 
control  the  telegraph  business  of  the  two  hemispheres  for 
the  purpose  of  securing,  directly  and  indirectly,  inordi- 


11 

nate  gains  to  a  few  individuals.  The  facts  of  the  case, 
in  their  estimation,  warrant  this  conclusion. 

Your  Memorialists  have  already  shown  that  this  meas- 
ure is  but  a  part  of  a  more  extensive  operation  from  which 
it  has  been  nominally  severed,  though  still  as  effectually 
united  in  interest  as  if  it  still  remained  under  the  direct 
control  of  the  Newfoundland  Company.  As  a  separate 
concern,  the  stock  of  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company 
was  raised,  at  least  in  part,  upon  the  representations  of  a 
Circular  marked  ["  Private."]  The  amount  of  stock  was 
fixed  at  £300,000,  since  increased  to  X3o0,000,  equal  to 
about  $1,700,000. 

That  Circular  represented  that  "  upon  a  very  moderate 

*  computation  of  profits,  the  capital  will  yield  a  return  ex- 

*  ceeding  40  per  cent." 

These  profits  are  not  to  be  divided  among  all  the  Stock- 
holders in  the  ordinary  way ;  but  one-half  of  the  amount 
over  ten  per  cent,  is  to  go  to  four  individuals,  three  of 
them  British  subjects,  and  one  of  them  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States. 

That  citizen  is  the  gentleman  who  procured  the  Act  of 
the  Legislature  of  Newfoundland  incorporating  the  New 
York,  Newfoundland  and  Loudon  Telegraph  Company ; 
the  same  who  got  up  the  American  Telegraph  Company ; 
the  same  who  doubtless  originated  the  present  plan  of  the 
Atlantic  Telegraph  Company ;  and  the  same  who  is  now 
said  to  be  entrusted  with  the  duty  of  superintending  the 
laying  of  the  Atlantic  Cable. 

Of  the  one-half  of  the  profits  over  ten  per  cent,  this 
gentleman  is  to  receive  thirteen  parts  out  of  twenty-four^ 


< 


ir 


12 

which,  if  the  estimate  of  profits  as  held  out  to  subscribers 
shall  be  realized,  will  give  him  an  annual  income  exceed- 
ing $120,000,  in  addition  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  upon 
his  stock  in  common  with  other  Stockholders. 

As  this  estimate  was  promulgated  before  application  was 
made  to  Congress  for  assistance,  and  there  was  no  mention 
of  any  bounty  from  the  British  Government,  it  would 
seem  that  the  eight  per  cent,  per  annum  said  to  be  secured 
from  the  two  Governments  for  a  term  of  years  was  not 
included  in  the  forty  per  cent,  estimate,  and  while  four 
per  cent,  of  it  is  to  go  to  swell  the  dividends  of  the  Stock- 
holders beyond  twenty-five  per  cent.,  the  other  four  is  to 
be  divided  —  thirteen  parts  to  the  American  citizen,  and 
eleven  parts  to  the  British  subjects  hereinbefore  alluded  to. 

As  no  interest  in  the  fifty  square  miles  of  land  appro- 
priated by  the  Legislature  of  Newfoundland  to  encourage 
the  laying  of  the  Telegraphic  Cable,  is  mentioned  as  vested 
in  the  Atlantic  Company,  it  is  presumed  that  the  New 
York,  Newfoundland  and  London  Company  purpose  re- 
taining the  bounty,  while  they  transfer  to  another  Com- 
pany the  service  for  which  it  was  provided.  But  if  the 
fifty  square  miles  of  land  is  to  go  to  the  Atlantic  Tele- 
graph Company,  it  will  swell  the  enormous  profits  antici- 
pated from  other  sources  beyond  the  foregoing  estimate. 

Your  Memorialists  further  represent,  that  the  instru- 
ment through  which  this  combination,  backed  by  the  direct 
aid,  influence  and  money  of  the  three  Governments,  seeka 
lo  force  the  New  England  Union  and  Magnetic  Lines  of 
Telegraph  into  connection  with  them  on  their  own  terms, 
under  penalty  of  the  destruction  of  their  property  in  case 


13 


of  refusal,  is  the  American  Telegraph  Company.  This 
Company  covers  a  field  of  operations,  as  already  shown, 
which  was  embraced  in  the  Newfoundland  Act  of  Incorpo- 
ration. It  was  gotten  up  by  the  same  men  who  control 
the  New  York,  Newfoundland  and  London  Telegraph 
Company.  Both  Companies  have  the  same  President,  are 
composed  mainly  of  the  same  Stockholders,  and  are  under 
the  same  control. 

The  objects  of  this  separation  have  been  substantially 
avowed.  If  the  original  project  had  been  prosecuted  un- 
der the  Newfoundland  Act  of  Incorporation,  the  State 
and  Federal  Governments  would  have  had  direct  control 
over  that  Corporate  Body  by  operating  upon  the  Ameri- 
can branch  of  their  enterprise,  and  that  control  would 
have  reached  the  Submarine  Electric  Cable.  But  by  cut- 
ting off  the  American  branch  of  the  original  scheme,  and 
confining  the  operations  of  the  Newfoundland  Company  to 
the  British  Provinces,  that  Company,  as  well  as  its  other 
branch,  the  Atlantic  Company,  are  placed  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  direct  legislation  of  the  United  States,  and 
of  the  several  States  through  which  their  connecting 
Lines  may  pass.  And  the  avowed  object  of  the  chief 
proprietors  and  principal  managers  of  the  Newfoundland 
and  American  Companies  —  being  in  the  main  the  same 
men,  and  all  or  nearly  all  citizens  of  the  United  S^^ates  — 
is  to  bar  all  Telegraph  Lines  in  these  States,  except  such 
as  may  be  owned,  controlled,  or  in  league  with  them, 
from  connection  with  the  Atlanta  Cable,  by  means  of  op- 
erations carried  on  by  them  in  part  beyond  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  their  own  Government,  and  in  part   by  special 


i     i 


r 


"TI 


^!l 


il 


34 

grants  and  prohibitions  procured  from  State  Legislatures, 
as  shown  in  the  Act  of  the  State  of  Maine. 

Your  Memorialists  charge,  that  backed  by  the  New- 
foundland monopoly,  and  an  anticipated  exclusive  connec- 
tion through  that  monopoly  with  the  Atlantic  Cable,  the 
authois  and  managers  of  the  combined  operation  have  at- 
tempted to  bring  the  principal  Lines  in  the  United  States 
under  their  control  upon  their  own  terms ;  and,  not  suc- 
ceeding in  relation  to  the  Lines  represented  by  your  Me- 
morialists, are  now  employing  the  power  thus  acquired, 
strengthened  by  domestic  combinations  and  the  bounty 
of  the  Government,  to  destroy  the  business  of  said  Lines 
and  render  them  valueless,  not  only  by  cutting  them  off 
from  all  connection  with  the  Atlantic  Cable,  but  by  get- 
ting up  rival  Lines  in  the  United  States,  and  making  them 
the  exclusive  recipients  of  European  Telegraphic  corres- 
pondence. 

A  brief  history  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  Amer- 
ican Telegraph  Company  is  necessary  to  a  clear  under- 
standing of  the  present  position  of  the  subject  and  the 
object  of  this  Memorial. 

After  the  Newfoundland  Company  was  formed,  its 
managers  and  most  of  its  Stockholders,  as  already  stated, 
organized  themselves  into  another  Company,  with  a  nomi- 
nal capital  of  §100,000,  (since  increased  to  $200,000,)  and 
assuming  the  name  of  the  American  Telegraph  Company 
became  a  Corporation  under  the  laws  of  New  York. 

Their  first  step  was  to  make  proposals  to  lease  the  ex- 
isting Morse  Lines  on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  from  the  Brit- 
ish Provinces  to  New  Orleans  and  from  New  York  to 


16 


Buffalo,  for  an  annual  rent  in  general  below  their  current 
incnme.  The  several  Companies  were  much  inclined  to 
accede  to  these  proposals,  though  there  were  well-grounded 
objections  in  the  small  capital  of  the  new  Company  to 
the  security  for  the  rents ;  but  before  they  had  time  to 
consider  and  act  upon  the  proposals,  the  American  Com- 
pany suddenly  withdrcAV  them. 

The  next  step  of  the  American  Company  was  to  pur- 
chase a  new  and  untried  Telegraph  instrument;  and 
while  they  were  spending  hundreds  and  thousands  of  dol- 
lars upon  it  to  make  it  of  any  use,  they  silently  allowed 
the  Agent  of  the  Associated  Press,  of  or  through  whom 
they  had  made  the  purchase,  to  fill  the  country  with  mis- 
representations in  relation  to  its  powers  and  performances, 
and  to  announce  their  purpose  to  establish  new  Lines  of 
Telegraph  along  the  principal  commercial  routes  in  the 
United  States  in  competition  with  the  existing  Lines. 

When  these  publications,  suffered  to  pass  by  them 
without  contradiction,  had  circulated  long  enough  to 
thoroughly  alarm  the  Stockholders  of  existing  Lines,  the 
American  Company  came  forward  with  a  new  set  of  pro- 
posals to  rent  them  on  terms  much  reduced  below  those 
w^hich  they  had  withdrawn.  Convinced  that  the  policy 
of  the  American  Company  was  to  force  them  into  a  sur- 
render of  their  property  through  fear  of  destruction  in 
case  of  refusal,  the  Companies  addressed,  with  a  natural 
repugnance  to  such  a  system  of  coercion,  rejected  these 
new  proposals. 

In  the  mean  time  the  American  Company  rented  the 
Maine  Line,  taking  into  their  service  the  President  and 


w 


Superintendent  of  that  Line,  thereby  effecting  a  connec- 
tion between  the  City  of  Boston  and  the  British  Provinces. 

Not  succeeding  in  securing,  by  lease,  control  of  any 
considerable  Line  south  of  Boston,  the  American  Com- 
pany purchased  an  existing  Lino  between  that  City  and 
New  York,  and  entered  into  competition  with  the  New 
England  Union  Line  between  those  Cities.  This  was  the 
condition  of  Telegraph  matters,  as  between  the  American 
Company  and  the  Companies  represented  by  your  Memo- 
rialists, when  the  Atlantic  Telegraph  Company  made 
application  to  Congress  for  the  aid  and  bounty  of  the 
Government. 

The  community  of  interests  between  that  Company  and 
the  American  Company,  is  proved  by  tlie  fact  that  this 
application  was  made  through  the  President  and  princi- 
pal Stockholders  A'  the  latter  Company,  who  visited  and 
spent  much  time  in  Washington  to  promote  the  passage 
of  the  bill. 

Your  Memorialists  further  represent,  that  some  of  the 
Stockholders  of  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company,  appre- 
hensive that  the  power  which  in  anticipation  was  already 
used  against  them,  and  might  hereafter  be  used  against 
the  commercial  and  political  interests  of  their  country, 
would  be  greatly  strengthened  should  Congress  accede  to 
this  application,  interposed  to  prevent  its  success,  and  for 
a  time  its  fate  became  doubtful. 

Your  Memorialists  charge,  and  are  prepared  to  prove, 
that  in  this  emergency  the  principal  manager  of  the  ap- 
plication on  the  part  of  the  Atlantic  Company,  who  is 
also  one  of  the  chief  managers   of  the  American  and 


Newfoundland  Companies,  and  a  large  Stockholder  in  all 
three  of  them,  accompanied  hy  a  British  Stockholder  in 
the  Atlantic  Company,  called  on  some  of  the  most  influ- 
ential Stockholders  of  the  Magnetic  Company,  and  by 
pledges  that  the  Atlantic  Cable  should  not  be  so  managed 
as  to  affect  injuriously  the  interests  of  the  Magnetic  Com- 
pany, prevented  the  interposition  of  the  said  Stockholders 
in  opposition  to  the  passage  of  the  bill  then  before  Con- 
gress. And  they  further  charge,  that  within  less  than 
{'our  months  thereafter,  in  anticipation  of  the  immediate 
successful  laying  of  the  Atlantic  Cable,  these  pledges 
were  falsified  by  one  of  the  men  who  made  them  and  his 
associates  in  the  American  Company,  who  entered  into 
arrangements,  the  palpable  object  of  which  is,  to  use  the 
power  anticipated  from  the  absolute  control  by  their  three 
coiubined  Companies  over  the  transatlantic  correspondence 
for  the  injury,  and,  if  practicable,  the  destruction  of  the 
Lines  owned  and  controlled  by  the  Magnetic  Telegraph 
Company,  as  well  as  those  owned  and  controlled  by  the 
New  England  Union  Telegraph  Company.  These  ar- 
rangements were  made  secretly  during  the  pendency  of 
negotiations,  with  a  view  of  securing  to  the  Magnetic 
Company  that  position  in  relation  to  the  Atlantic  Cable 
which  had  been  pledged  to  them  at  Washington,  as  well 
as  to  put  an  end  to  telegraphic  warfare.  And  in  pursu- 
ance of  those  arrangements,  the  American  Company  have 
established  a  Line  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia,  and 
avow  a  design  to  extend  it  further  South,  for  the  purpose, 
not  only  of  monopolizing  the  European  correspondence, 
but  depriving  the  Magnetic  Company  of  its  local  business. 


?^(S5r!ByS5B!WBP"il^WWPPIIP( 


Your  Memorialists  further  represent,  that  the  arrange- 
ments thus  secretly  entered  into  were  afterwards  publicly 
ratified,  and  that  they  provide  in  effect  for  cutting  off  the 
Companies  represented  by  your  Memorialists  for  thirty 
years  from  business  reaching  the  Continent  of  America  by 
the  Atlantic  Cable;  and  to  make  the  exclusion  more  effect- 
ive they  contemplate  the  extension  of  the  American  Lines 
along  the  Atlantic  Coast  south  to  New  Orleans.  Finding 
their  very  existence  thus  threatened,  the  Magnetic  and 
New  England  Union  Companies  combined  together  for 
mutual  defence  for  a  like  term  of  thirty  years,  and  made 
contracts  of  the  same  duration  for  connections  with  other 
Lines.  It  soon  became  evident  that  the  American  Com- 
pany and  their  allies,  foreign  and  domestic,  were  not  to 
destroy  the  Magnetic  and  New  England  Union  Lines 
without  a  severe  and  expensive  struggle,  when  that  Com- 
pany indicated  a  willingness  to  amalgamate  the  three 
Companies.  While  some  of  the  Stockholders  of  the  two 
former  Companies  were  willing  to  attempt  a  removal  of 
the  obstacles  which  had  been  created  by  contracts  on  both 
sides  for  exclusive  connections  for  thirty  years,  others 
thought  the  attempt  useless,  and  for  that  and  other  rea- 
sons the  project  was  not  entertained. 

Your  Memorialists  further  represent,  that  by  a  contract 
of  the  Maine  Telegraph  Company,  entered  into  before  the 
lea.se  of  their  Line  to  the  American  Telegraph  Company, 
the  Maine  Line  of  Telegraph  was  bound  to  a  perpetual 
connection  with  the  New  England  Union  Company  at 
Boston  to  the  extent  of  returning  that  Company  as  much 
business  from  the  East  as  they  niight  receive  by  it  from 


the  West,  and  this  contract,  at  the  time  of  the  lease,  the 
American  Company  became  bound  to  fulfil  in  good  faith. 
But  since  they  purchased  a  Line  for  their  own  use  from 
Boston  to  New  York,  they  have,  under  various  pretexts, 
refused  to  fulfil  this  contract  so  far  as  it  relates  to  busi- 
ness from  beyond  Portland,  thus  cutting  off  the  New 
England  Union  Line  and  its  connections  from  all  business 
coming  from  points  East  of  that  City  in  the  United 
States,  in  the  British  Provinces,  and  from  Europe  through 
the  Atlantic  Cable. 

Your  Memorialists  further  represent,  that  the  Act  of 
Congress,  approveu  March  3d,  1857,  "  to  expedite  Tele- 
graphic communication  for  the  uses  of  the  (iovernment 
in  its  foreign  intercourse,"  provides  for  a  contract  "with 
any  competent  person,  persons  or  association,"  for  the  aid 
of  the  Government  in  laying  the  Submarine  Cable  and  for 
its  use,  paying  therefor  $70,000  per  year  until  the  net  in- 
come of  said  parties  shall  be  six  per  cent.,  and  afterwards 
$50,000  per  annum  for  twenty-five  years.  As  the  persons 
constituting  the  New  York,  Newfoundland  and  London 
Telegraph  Company,  have  the  exclusive  right  of  landing 
a  Telegraph  Cable  on  the  Coast  of  Newfoundland,  and 
those  persons  are  in  the  main  the  same  who  constitute  the 
American  Telegraph  Company,  it  is  evident  that  this  libe- 
ral grant  is  for  the  benefit  of  the  individuals  composing 
the  latter  Company  as  much  as  the  former.  If  the  New- 
foundland Company  have  ceded  their  exclusive  right  to 
the  Atlantic  Company,  it  is  not  likely  to  have  been  done 
without  a  consideration  of  which  a  part  would  accrue  to 
the  principal  Stockholders  in  the  American  Company,  and 


MF 


20 

in  any  event  the  bounty  of  the  Government  will  go  to 
strengthen  each  of  the  combined  Companies  through 
those  individuals  who  are  heavy  Stockholders  in  them  all. 
But  if  the  profits  of  the  Atlantic  Company  shall  equal 
even  less  than  one-half  of  the  estimate  of  its  projectors, 
then  thirteen  dollars  out  of  forty-eight  of  the  Government 
appropriations,  both  of  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States,  will  accrue  to  a  citizen  of  New  York,  who  is  be- 
lieved to  be  financially  the  projector  of  the  whole  scheme, 
and  is  notoriously  the  life  and  soul  of  each  and  -11  of  the 
three  Companies  which  compose  it. 

Your  Memorialists  are  not  disposed  to  complain  of  any 
thing  their  Government  may  be  inclined  to  do  in  promot- 
ing or  rewarding  this  great  enterprise ;  all  that  they  de- 
sire and  ask  is,  that  the  parties  thus  strengthened  and 
enriched,  shall  not  be  permitted  to  exercise  the  power 
thus  acquired  for  the  oppression  and  destruction  of  the 
Companies  which  they  represent,  and  the  foregoing  de- 
tail of  facts  has  been  given  merely  to  show  the  extent  of 
that  power  and  the  use  which  is  already  made  of  it. 

The  Act  of  Congress  above  alluded  to,  contains  the  fol- 
lowing Proviso,  viz : 

"  Provided  further,  That  the  United  States,  and  the 
'  citizens  thereof,  shall  enjoy  the  use  of  said  submarine 

*  communication  for  all  time  on  the  same  terms  and  con- 
'  ditions  which  shall  be  stipulated  in  favor  of  the  Govern- 

*  ment  of  Great  Britain,  and  the  subjects  thereof,  recog- 

*  nising  equality  of  rights  among  the  citizens  of  the 
'  United  States  in  the  use  of  the  said  submarine  commu- 
*■  nication,  and  the  Lines  of  Telegraph  which  may  at  any 
'  time  connect  with  the  same  at  its  terminus  on  the  Coast 


21 

'  of  Newfoundland  and  in  the  United  States,  in  any  con- 
*  tract  so  to  be  entered  into  by  such  person,  persons  or 
^  asssociation  with  that  Government." 

Your  Memorialists  are  already  admonished  that  the 
"  equality  of  rights"  seemingly  provided  for  in  this  proviso 
is,  so  far  as  their  Companies  are  concerned,  wholly  illusory. 

No  Line  other  than  that  of  the  Newfoundland  Company 
can  connect  with  the  Submarine  Cable,  on  account  of  their 
monopoly. 

No  Line  but  that  of  the  American  Company  can  con- 
nect with  the  Newfoundland  Line,  because  both  virtually 
belong  to  and  are  managed  by  the  same  men. 

Members  of  the  American  Company  have  already  de- 
nied the  right  of  any  other  Telegraph  Lines  to  insist  on  a 
reciprocal  connection  with  the  Submarine  Cable  through 
the  Newfoundland  and  their  own  Lines  for  the  purpose  of 
sending  and  receiving  intercontinental  messages,  claiming 
that  privilege  as  a  portion  of  their  own  property.  And 
by  this  exclusive  connection,  as  well  as  by  the  legislation 
of  the  State  of  Maine,  the  managers  of  the  scheme  vir- 
tually extend  their  Newfoundland  monopoly  through  the 
British  Provinces  and  into  the  United  States ;  for  though 
messages  going  to  Europe  may  be  delivered  to  them  at 
any  of  their  stations  in  the  United  States,  all  messages 
from  Europe  to  any  of  their  stations  or  stations  of  par- 
ties in  alliance  with  them,  will  be  sent  to  their  own  Lines, 
the  practical  effect  of  which  will  soon  be  to  make  the 
Lines  of  the  American  Company  in  the  United  States  the 
exclusive  channels  of  European  telegraphic  correspond- 
ence. 


iUlUllfilUlSfflHSHIPaBBPiHli^lii" 


i 


1 


22 

But  if  the  "  equality  of  rights"  mentioned  in  the  pro- 
viso includes  a  right  of  Telegraph  Lines  in  the  United 
States  to  a  reciprocal  connection  with  the  Submarine  Ca- 
ble through  connecting  Lines  for  business  both  ways,  it  is 
a  right  depending  on  a  contract  to  which  the  American 
and  Newfoundland  Companies  are  not  proposed  to  be 
parties,  and  of  course  it  will  impose  upon  them  no  obliga- 
tion. And  the  Atlantic  Company  is  in  no  shape  bound  to 
secure  access  to  its  OAvn  terminus,  and  if  it  were,  could  be 
held  responsible,  a^  the  m..tter  now  stands,  only  by  the 
withdrawal  of  the  future  bounty  of  the  Government. 

Your  Memorialists  neither  ask  nor  desire  the  interposi- 
tion of  Congress  to  protect  them  against  competition  in  the 
United  States.  They  neither  ask  nor  desire  the  with- 
drawal of  the  aid  of  the  Government  from  the  Atlantic 
Telegraph  Company,  '  its  refusal  to  any  other  Company 
which  may  be  organized  to  span  the  Ocean  with  a  Line  of 
Telegraph.  All  they  ask  is  to  be  protected  against  com- 
binations for  the  purpose  of  oppressing  or  destroying  them 
between  parties  operating  in  the  United  States  and  out  of 
the  United  States,  and  to  be  put  on  an  equal  footing,  with 
all  others  in  their  connection  with  foreign  Lines  entering 
the  United  States  by  sea  or  land. 

This  protection  your  Memorialists  are  advised  it  is  the 
province  of  Congress  to  afford  them,  by  virtue  of  their 
constitutional  power  to  regulate  trade  and  intercourse 
with  foreign  nations.  And  they  appeal  the  more  confi- 
dently for  this  protection  on  account  of  the  aid  granted 
by  Congress  to  the  combination  against  them,  increasing 
their  po\ver  to  oppress. 


23 

Your  Memorialists,  therefore,  pray  fr  r  the  passage  of  a 
general  law  which  shall  prevent  combinations  between 
Citizens  or  Companies  in  the  United  States,  and  Monop- 
olists or  Companies  out  of  the  United  States  for  the 
purpose  of  oppressing  Telegraph  Companies  and  monop- 
olizing the  business  of  telegraphing  in  the  United  States, 
and  shall  enable  all  Telegrapli  Lines  in  the  United  States 
to  form  connections  with  all  Telegraph  Lines  approaching 
their  borders  on  terms  of  perfect  eciualitj. 

Your  Memorialists  are  the  more  emboldened  to  present 
this  prayer,  from  the  consideration,  that  the  monopoly  of 
telegraphic  intercourse  between,  if  not  throughout  the 
Old  and  New  Worlds,  now  sought  to  be  established,  may  be 
applied  with  fearful  effect  to  the  commercial  and  political 
as  well  as  telf^graphic  interests  of  the  United  States, 
unless  regulated  by  law. 

March  10,  1858. 

AMOS  KENDALL, 
SAMUEL  C.  BISHOP, 
ZE^^US  BARNUM, 

Committee  of  the  Magnetic  Telegraph  Company. 

FRANCIS  0.  J.  SMITH, 
H.  M.  SCHIEFFELIN, 
Committee  of  the  New  England  Union 

Telegraph  Company. 


